When Sonic first hit the console market he caused a big stir. Sure, it was a platform game, but the combination of an immediately likeable character and insanely quick gameplay struck a chord with players. The now-famous hedgehog and his friends have through the various game releases wowed and entertained players over various adventures and game environments.

Many PlayStation 2 owners can confess to owning at least one of the sonic games but this release of the mega collection allows players to own 7 of the games plus extra material that includes Sonic the Hedgehog 1, 2 and 3, Sonic and Knuckles,
Dr Robotnik's Meanbean Machine, unlockable Genesis games (Ristar, Flicky, Comix Zone, to name a few) and much, much more

When first loading the disk it is hard not to be struck by how much content is on the disk and how much the graphics have aged. It's funny how the memory can play tricks on you - what at the time you thought as being stunning and innovative now looks garish, fuzzy and lacking in detail. How times have changed.

Don't get us wrong though, these games are as great to play as they were originally, but they are simply direct ports of the originals. The only change has been the addition of a front end menu system, the ability to save in-game and some up front controller layouts. No other work has been done on the games, so they come with all the glitches, quirks and sneaky work-arounds they had when first released.

Once you get into the games, however, you will be consumed by the challenge and the frantic gameplay that is the style of the Sonic series. Despite all the years since their release they still have all the challenge and appeal. It's a good solid collection of games, although you could argue 1 or 2 would have been better to leave in the archive. The addition of readable onscreen versions of the Sonic Comics is a very nice touch for those that have not seen them before, as are the unlockable Genesis titles.